Builder's Journey
Why I Started Building in Public
The decision to share my solo founder journey openly—and what I hope to learn along the way.
Builder's Journey
Builder's Journey
Follow the journey of building software products from scratch. Real stories about shipping code, growing a business, and lessons learned along the way.
41 posts in this category
← Back to all postsBuilding software products as a solo founder is equal parts exhilarating and exhausting. This category documents the real journey—not the polished highlight reel, but the honest experience including wins, failures, doubts, and breakthroughs. From handling imposter syndrome to celebrating small victories, dealing with slow growth to managing burnout, these articles capture what it actually feels like to build products solo. We share personal reflections, detailed case studies with actual data, mindset frameworks that sustain effort over years, and practical insights on the full product lifecycle. Whether you're considering the solo founder path or already building your first product, find authentic perspectives that acknowledge both the challenges and rewards of entrepreneurship. Learn from both successful launches and failed experiments with transparent analysis of what worked, what didn't, and why.
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More from Builder's Journey
Mindset
The Stack Doesn't Matter
Stop researching frameworks. Pick one and build. The technology you choose matters far less than whether you ship.
Product Development
Simple Wins
The simpler product often beats the feature-rich competitor. Here's why simplicity is a competitive advantage, not a limitation.
Product Development
Feedback That Matters vs. Feedback That Doesn't
Not all user feedback is equal. Some leads you forward; some leads you in circles. Here's how to filter signal from noise.
Product Development
Automate the Boring Stuff
Manual work doesn't scale. Find the repetitive tasks eating your time and eliminate them.
Product Development
Analytics You'll Actually Use
Most founders track everything and learn nothing. Here are the few metrics that actually matter.
Mindset
The Imposter Syndrome That's Keeping You Stuck
"I'm not a real developer." Good. You don't need to be. The identity you're chasing is a distraction from the work that matters.
Mindset
Why Coding Courses Waste Your Time (Builders)
Months of tutorials. Years of syntax. Zero shipped products. The traditional path to learning to code optimizes for the wrong outcome.
Mindset
The Only Technical Skill That Matters Now
It's not Python. It's not JavaScript. The skill that separates builders who ship from those who don't is the ability to think clearly and describe what you want.
Mindset
You Don't Need to Learn to Code Anymore
The gatekeeping is over. What used to take years of syntax memorization now takes clear thinking and the right tools. Here's what actually changed.
Product Development
Security for Solo Founders
You can't ignore security, but you can't afford a security team either. Here's what actually matters.
Personal Growth
When to Quit (And When to Keep Going)
Not every project deserves your persistence. Sometimes quitting is wisdom. Here's how to know the difference.
Product Development
Technical Debt Is Fine
Perfectionism kills products. Sometimes messy code that ships is better than clean code that doesn't.
Mindset
Build for Yourself First
The best products come from scratching your own itch. When you're the user, you can't lie to yourself about what works.
Mindset
One Product, One Focus
Stop starting new projects. The shiny new idea isn't better than the hard work in front of you.
Marketing
The Launch Nobody Noticed (And Why That's Fine)
Your launch will probably flop. Almost everyone's does. Here's why that's not the end—it's the beginning.
Product Development
Charge More
You're probably undercharging. Most solo founders are. Here's the uncomfortable case for raising your prices.
Mindset
The Overnight Success That Took 3 Years
Behind every 'sudden' success is a story nobody saw. The years of invisible work that make success look easy.
Product Development
Pricing Is a Feature
Most solo founders underprice out of fear. But pricing isn't just a number—it's a signal. Here's how to think about it.
Mindset
Competition Is a Good Sign
If no one else is building this, maybe nobody wants it. Competition validates the market—here's how to think about it.
Marketing
Your First 10 Users Matter More
Early users aren't just customers—they're collaborators. Here's how to find them and why they matter more than scale.
Product Development
Your First $1,000
The milestone that matters most. Your first $1,000 in revenue is harder than your first $10,000—and more meaningful.
Mindset
You Don't Need to Scale
A profitable small business is a valid outcome. Not everything needs to be a rocket ship. Here's the case for staying small intentionally.
Product Development
How to Validate Without Building Anything
Most builders skip this step and regret it. Talk to potential users before you write a line of code—here's exactly how.
Personal Growth
Celebrate the Small Wins
First sale, first user, first bug fix—these matter more than you think. Here's why celebrating small wins keeps you going.
Product Development
The Idea Isn't the Hard Part
Everyone has ideas. Notebooks full of them. The difference between builders and dreamers isn't the quality of the idea—it's what happens next.
Personal Growth
The Comparison Trap
Everyone on Twitter is doing better than you. Except they're not. The comparison game is rigged—here's how to stop playing.
Personal Growth
Burnout Is a Feature, Not a Bug
You will burn out eventually. It's not a matter of if but when. Here's how to plan for it instead of pretending it won't happen.
Mindset
Ship It Ugly
Perfectionism is procrastination in disguise. Why your first version should embarrass you—and why that's exactly the point.
Personal Growth
The Loneliness Nobody Talks About
Building alone is isolating. The wins are celebrated alone, the losses felt alone. Here's how to find community without joining a team.
Product Development
Support Is Product Development
Every support ticket is a bug report. Treat support as product research, and your product will get better faster.
Product Development
Your Onboarding Is Broken
The first 5 minutes determine whether users stay. Most onboarding fails because it teaches features instead of delivering value.
Product Development
The Art of Saying No
You can't build everything. You shouldn't build everything. Here's how to decline feature requests without losing users.
Product Development
Every Feature Has a Cost
That feature request seems simple. It's not. Every feature you add comes with hidden costs—here's how to account for them.
Marketing
The Case Against Paid Ads
Most solo founders should avoid paid advertising. Here's why—and what to do instead.
Marketing
Stop Posting, Start Helping
Social media marketing that works: stop broadcasting, start answering questions. Forget the hustle content—just be useful.
Marketing
SEO Is a Slow Burn (And That's the Point)
SEO takes months to work. That's not a bug—it's a feature. Why organic search is the best solo founder marketing channel.
Marketing
The Email List You Keep Ignoring
You know you should build an email list. You haven't. Here's why email beats every other channel and how to start without being spammy.
Marketing
Write for One Person
The secret to content that resonates: stop writing for everyone. Imagine one specific person and write directly to them.
Marketing
Nobody Is Coming to Save You
There's no discovery algorithm. No viral moment waiting to happen. You have to do the marketing yourself—here's how to accept that.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Builder's Journey category about?
This category documents the real experience of building software products as a solo founder—including wins, failures, lessons learned, and honest reflections on the entrepreneurial journey.
Do you share revenue numbers and metrics?
When relevant, we share actual data and outcomes from product launches, marketing experiments, and business decisions. Transparency helps other builders learn.
Can I follow along with your current projects?
Absolutely! We document ongoing projects like XLNavigator in real-time. Newsletter subscribers get behind-the-scenes updates and early access to new features.